Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena has expressed serious and deep concern over the neglect of Punjabi, one of the official languages ​​of Delhi, in government schools in the national capital. According to the LG's office, while disposing of a file related to the status report submitted by the Punjabi Academy, GNCTD, on the status of the Punjabi language, Saxena pointed out several shortcomings and also demanded a thorough re-examination of the same.

The report was termed incomplete.

It may be noted that this report was submitted by the Punjabi Academy, Department of Art, Culture,e and Languages, GNCTD after the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) made a representation to the LG and was subsequently forwarded to the ACL by the LG Secretariat. It is noted that the report submitted by the department is incomplete and does not reflect the full picture of the concerns raised by the DSGMC.

LG ordered an inquiry.

Following this, Saxena has ordered a thorough probe into the matter and directed the chief secretary to examine the issue with all stakeholders. The LG has also observed that the ACL department should have first sought information from these agencies about the existing vacancies of Punjabi teachers and the efforts made to fill the gaps, if any, the LG office said in a press release.

Several serious concerns including the acute shortage of Punjabi teachers in both Delhi Government and MCD schools, and lack of funding,g, etc. have been raised before the LG by various stakeholders earlier also.

Many posts are vacant in school.s

The LG office informed that 752 posts of TGT Punjabi and 4 posts of PGT Punjabi are lying vacant in the schools of Education Department, GNCTD, Punjabi Academy has been able to spend only Rs 19.99 crore against the mere Rs 27.28 crore allotted to it during the financial year 2023-24.

cuts made in the budget

In the current financial year, the budget allocation for the Punjabi Academy has been cut by 17 percent. Similarly, a large number of posts for Punjabi teachers are also vacant in MCD schools. This serious problem of teachers has directly affected the quality of Punjabi language education, hindering the development of linguistic skills and cultural understanding among students.

lack of seriousness among officers

The press release said that Saxena has also found that there is a lack of seriousness in the overall efforts on the part of the concerned authorities to achieve the goals and objectives for which the Punjabi Academy was established, thereby adversely affecting the promotion, propagation, and development of Punjabi language, which is the second official language as per the Delhi Official Language Act, 2000, and its literature and culture in Delhi.